Gas water-heater.



W. B. BASTIAN. GAS WATER HEATER. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 28, 1911.

1,013,581 Patented Jan.2, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

lll-llllililim' Ilia COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH' CO-.WASHINGTON, n. C.

W. B. BASTIAN. GAS WATER HEATER. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 28, 1911.

Patented Ja11.2, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Ill-V1117 I,

' five)??? M4,, 444% UNITED STATES PATENT OFFTQE.

WILLIAM B. BASTIAN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO W. B. BASTIAN MFG. 00.. OF PIERRE, SOUTH DAKOTA, A CORPORATION OF SOUTH DAKOTA.

GAS WATER-HEATER.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, VVILLIAM B. BASTIAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gas ater-Heaters, of which the following is a specification.

The invention may be used in any of the great variety of situations in which it is desired to maintain a constant supply of uniformly-hot water and to this end the invention resides in a water-heater so constructed that there will be a constant circulation of water within the boiler so long as the burner is kept lighted. Following the natural law of gravity, for the hotter of two bodies of water to ascend, I so construct the boiler that as a portion of the water therein becomes heated, it will rise and a portion of corresponding volume will fall, the rising and falling bodies of water being maintained separate and apart within the boiler in such manner that as the water circulates within the boiler it enters the boiler from a heater at a higher level than it leaves the boiler on its way back to the heater.

For the sake of clearness it may here be stated that the term boiler as herein used applies to the tank or receptacle from which the water is drawn off for household or other purposes, or through which it circulates when used as the heat circulating medium of a hot water heating system, while the term heater as herein used applies to that portion of the apparatus which is directly subjected to the heat and in which the water is heated, and which is in direct internal communication with the boiler.

The object of the invention is to provide an improved heater which will do the work efficiently and which is nevertheless of simple construction, and easily kept clean.

To this end the invention consists in the features of novelty that are hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawings which are made a part of this specification and in which:

Figure 1 is an elevation of a water heater involving the invention. Fig. 2 is a similarview of some of the parts shown in section, and on a larger scale. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section of the dome of the heater. Fig. 4 is a vertical section, on a somewhat larger scale, of parts having the water pas- Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed January 28, 1911.

combustion chamber, in which the heater, 6

Patented Jan. 2, 1912.

Serial No. 605,225.

sired number of openings, 2, 8 and 4, for

the admission of or connection with pipes for conducting water to the boiler or away from it, as may be desired. The side walls of the boiler are continued downward below its bottom proper, 5, to form a cylindrical housing 1 whichmay be called the 7 is located, the combustion chamber having an outlet flue, 7, for the escape of the products of combustion.

The heater comprises a dome-shaped shell having two parallel concentric hemispherical walls, 8 and 9, which have a water heating and circulating space or chamber, 10, between them, a hollow circular base rim, 11, which is in communication with the space, 10 (or, rather, which forms the bottom thereof), a number of hollow radial branches, 12, arranged after the manner of spokes of a wheel and communicating. at their outer ends with the hollow rim, 11, and a vertical hollow pipe, 13, the lower end of which communicates with all of the branches, 12 at their point of intersection and at top joining the wall, 9, and communicating with the interior of a fitting, 14;, all of the parts 8 to 13 inclusive, being cast integrally, so that the several branches brace and strengthen the dome. ting, 14, comprises parts, 15 and 16, which, taken together, resemble a plumbers T, the open ends of the lateral branches being in communication with the space, 10, so that as the water becomes heated and rises in the space, 10, it will pass through openings 22 into the ends of the branch 16, thence upward through the branch 15, thence through a pipe, 18, which is screwed to the branch 15, and then escape into the boiler near the top thereof. The inner and outer walls, 8 and 9, of the shell, have internally threaded openings through which the fitting, 14, passes and has threaded engagement so that they are rigidly connected and braced against each other for resisting the effects of unequal expansion and contraction. The walls are also braced and strengthened by the hollow rim l1, and the several branches 12 and the pipe 18, all of which are integral as aforesaid. The upper end 19 of the fitting, screws directly into the bottom of the boiler and onto it is turned a jam nut which is adapted to engage the bottom of the boiler and aid in both forming a tight joint and in supporting the boiler.

The comparatively cool water which is displaced from the bottom of the boiler by the discharge of the comparatively hot water into the top of the boiler, will pass downward through the annular passage, 23, which surrounds the pipe 18, and the branch 15 of the fitting, until it encounters the branch 16, at which point the current will divide and pass downward on opposite sides of the branch 16, escaping from the lower end of the fitting into the upper end of the vertical pipe 13 of the dome.

rough this pipe it passes downward to the radial branches, 12, and thence outward to the hollow rim 11 which is in fact the bottom of the space 10. Throughout its travel through the heater, more, or less of the heating of the water is done, but it is done principally in the radial branches, 12, and the lower part of the water chamber of the dome, within which it ascends and from which it escapes, through the lateral openings 22, into the horizontal branch, 16,

of the fitting, 1 1, and passes thence upward through the pipe 18. It will thus be seen that the ascending and descending currents of water, the one hot and the other cold, will be kept entirely separate from each other throughout the entire heating operation, and that after it enters the chamber, 10, and is subjected to the heat of the burner, its course is continuously upward and never downward until it is discharged into the upper portion of the boiler.

The boiler and the heater may be supported in a suitable manner. As shown in Fig. 1, the entire apparatus is supported by a central standard, 24, the upper end of which has threaded engagement with a socket on the bottom of the heater. The vertical pipe, 18, of the dome rises centrally from the top of the standard, 24, and the fitting, 14, engages and rises centrally from the pipe, 13, so that these parts constitute a central support for both the boiler and the heater.

The bottom rim, 11, of the shell of the heater is provided with any desired number of hollow spuds 25, which are normally closed by screw bolts or plugs, 26, by which the downward extension, 1, of the boiler and the shell aretconnected and braced one against the other. But these hollow spuds are intended more particularly for cleanout purposes and to this end they are located directly opposite the outer ends of the radial branch as 12.

The burner, 27, forms no part of the present invention and need not be here described in detail. Sufiice it to say that it may be of any desired construction that will answer the requirements of the invention and that either gas or oil may be used as fuel.

The term water-heater as used in this specification is intended to comprehend a device for heating Water to any desired temperature, either above or below the boiling point, depending upon the use for which it is intended. For example, in a heating system in which steam is used as a circulating medium, the water must be heated above the boiling point in order to generate the steam, while in a heating system in which water is used as the circulating medium, the water should not be heated above the boiling point. This latter is also true in systems for supplying hot water for lavatories, but here it is to be understood that the present invention has noth-.

ing whatever to do with the use to which the water is put, but simply to the means for heating the water maintaining a constant circulation within the apparatus in which th water is heated.

hat I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A water heater having, in combination, a boiler, a heater, proper, having a shell having double parallel walls providing between" them a water-circulating space, hollow, intersecting branches communicating at their outer ends with said water-circulating space at diflerent distant points, a water-circulating pipe communicating with the boiler and with said water-circulating space and a second water-circulating pipe communicating with the boiler and with said hollow branches at their point of intersection.

2. A water-heater having, in combination,

a boiler, a heater, proper, having a domeshaped shell having double parallel walls providing between them a water-circulating space whose course is continuously upward,

hollow, intersecting branches communicat ing with said water-circulating space at different, distant points, a -water-circulating pipe communicating with the boiler and with said hollow branches at their point of intersection, and a second water-circulatingcirculating space at different, distant oints,

a water-circulating pipe communicating at its upper end with the lower portion of the boiler and at its lower end with said hollow branches at their point of intersection, and a second water-circulating pipe communicating at its upper end with the upper portion of the boiler and its lower end with the upper portion of said water-circulating space.

4-. A water-heater having, in combination, a boiler, a heater, proper, having a domeshaped shell having double parallel walls providing between them a water circulating space whose course is continuously upward, hollow, intersecting branches communicating at their outer ends with the lower portion of the water-circulating space at different, distant points, a circulating passage for the comparatively cold water communicating with said branches at their point of intersection and with the lower portion of the boiler, and a second circulating passage for the comparatively hot water communicating with the upper portion of said circulating space and with the upper portion of the boiler.

5. A waterheater having, in combination, a boiler, a heater, proper, having a domeshaped shell having double parallel walls providing a water-circulating space through which the water flows in a continuously upward direction, hollow, intersecting branches, on the under side of the shell, communicating with the lower portion of the water-circulating space at different, distant points so as to permit the heat from the burner to pass upwardbetween them and to come into contact with the inner wall of the shell, a water-circulating passage communieating with the lower portion of the watercirculating space aforesaid and with the lower portion of the boiler, and a second water-circulating passage communicating with the upper portion of said water-circulatingspace and with the upper portion of the boiler.

6. A water heater having, in combination, a boiler, a heater, proper, having a dome-shaped shell having double parallel walls, providing between them a circulating space, a continuous passage connecting the upper portion of the boiler with the upper portion of said circulating space and a continuous passage connecting the lower portion of the boiler with the lower portion of said circulating space, whereby the upward and downward currents of water are completely separated and kept apart under all conditions.

7. A water-heater having, in combination, a boiler, a tubular fitting the upper end of which communicates with the lower portion of the boiler, a heater, proper, having a dome-shaped shell having double walls providing a water-circulating space between them, said fitting having lateral branches communicating with said watercirculating space, a pipe communicating with said lateral branches whence it extends upward and communicates with the boiler, hollow branches connecting said water-circulating space at different points, and a passage communicating with said hollow branches and with the boiler.

8. A water-heater having, in combination, a boiler, a heater, proper, having a dome-shaped shell having double walls providing between them a circulating space, hollow horizontal branches communicating with the bottom portion of said space, a water-circulating pipe communicating at its lower end with said hollow horizontal branches, a fitting having a passage communicating at its lower end with the upper portion of said pipe and at its upper end with the lower portion of the boiler, said fitting having also a passage communicating at its lower end with the circulating space of the shell and at its upper end with the upper portion of the boiler, said passages being wholly without any internal communication with each other.

9. A water-heater having, in combination, a boiler, a heater, proper, having a shell having double walls, providing between them a circulating space, a fitting having engagement with both of said walls whereby they are braced and strengthened, said fitting having a passage communicating at its upper end with the upper portion of the boiler and at its lower end with the upper portion of said circulating space, said fitting having also a passage communicating at its upper end with the lower portion of the boiler, and a passage communicating with the lower end of the passage last aforesaid and with the lower portion of said circulating space.

10. A water heater having in combination a boiler, a dome shaped heater having dou' ble shells providing between them a circulating space, a hollow rim at the bottom of said dome communicating with said space, a plurality offl hollow branches communicating with said rim, and a central hollow branch communicating at bottom with the branches aforesaid, a hollow fitting, the lower end of which communicates with said vertical hollow branch and the upper end of which communicates'with the lower portion of the boiler, said fitting having a lateral branch communicating with the space between the shells of the dome and a pipe communicating with said lateral branch and with the upper portion of the boiler.

11. A water heater having in combination a boiler, a tubular fitting the upper end of which communicates with the lower portion of the boiler, a hollow dome having double walls providing a circulating space between them, said fitting having a lateral branch communicating with said space, a pipe eating with the lower end of said vertical commumcatlng wlth sald lateral branch branch and with the aforesald clrculating whence 1t extends upward and connnumspace of the dome.

cates with the upper portion of the boiler, WVILLIAM B. BASTIAN. a vertical hollow branch communicating at lVitnesses: 7 its upper end with the interior of the fitting L. M. HOPKINS,

aforesaid, and lateral branches communi- ANDREW OLSEN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

